A liquid crystal display device in an in-plane switching (IPS) mode is known as an example of a display device. The liquid crystal display device in an IPS mode comprises a pair of substrates facing each other via a liquid crystal layer. One of the substrates comprises a pixel electrode and a common electrode. The alignment of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is controlled using the lateral electric field generated between the electrodes. In IPS modes, a liquid crystal display device in a fringe-field switching (FFS) mode has been put to practical use. In the liquid crystal display device in an FFS mode, a pixel electrode and a common electrode are provided in different layers, and the fringe electric field generated between the electrodes is used to control the alignment of liquid crystal molecules.
Apart from the above, the following liquid crystal display device is suggested. In the liquid crystal display device, a pixel electrode and a common electrode are provided in different layers. A slit is provided in the electrode closer to a liquid crystal layer than the other electrode. The liquid crystal molecules near the both sides of the slit in the width direction are rotated in opposite directions. This liquid crystal display device is a type of FFS mode. However, the form of the rotation of the liquid crystal molecules of this liquid crystal display device is clearly different from that of the conventional FFS mode which has been widely known. This mode can increase the speed of response and improve the stability of alignment in comparison with the conventional FFS mode. Hereinafter, the structure of this type of liquid crystal display device is called a high-speed response mode.